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Released By: Magnolia Home Entertainment
Released On: 01/18/2011
Director: Alex Gibney, Eugene Jarecki, Heidi Ewing, Morgan Spurlock, Rachel Grady
Cast: Steven Levitt, Stephen Dubner
The Film:
If you're not familiar with the term Freakonomics, you may not spend too much time checking out the New York Times Bestseller list. Published in 2005, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything has sold millions of copies and been praised and criticized the world over. The collaborative work between the aforementioned rogue economist, Steven Levitt, and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner made its way onto film in 2010, and was featured at the Tribeca Film Festival that same year.
What is Freakonomics? According to the creators, it's a “different way of thinkingâ€, and that's really all that can be said about it. Anyone wanting the corruption and scandal of Zeitgeist and similar Michael Moore documentaries should probably look elsewhere; like the book, the film contains segments on the effects of naming children, parenting habits, cheating sumo wrestlers, and real estate strategy. An impressive array of directors was brought on board for the film; Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp), Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) and Alex Gibney (Casino Jack and the United States of Money) are just a few of the documentary makers who contributed.
Despite the success of the book, the written concepts haven't made the journey to film in the most effective manner. Brief snippets of information, some featuring Levitt and Dubner are scattered throughout the running time, which is largely made up of segments by some better-known independent directors. The purpose of these segues seems to be to keep the film upbeat and witty, and bridge the gaps between some of the wildly differing subjects, but at the end of the day will leave most scratching their heads. That isn't to say that the segments aren't informative or thought-provoking, because they most definitely are; particularly, the chapters involving sumo wrestling, and the effect of legalized abortion on crime rates are very intriguing; but meshed in with some of the other topics and the segues, it's hard to know where to focus your attention. The mix of directors was a good idea in theory, also, but with so many styles on display, the pacing of the movie picks up and slows down, rendering the great parts good, and the good parts boring.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Freakonomics comes to DVD from Magnolia Home Entertainment with a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer and a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. Don't expect to show off your sound system with this track, as it's merely adequate for the material, but the video and audio quality are solid.
There are also a number of extra features found on the disc. The Producer's Audio Commentary is the first one up, featuring Chris Romano, Dan O'Meara and Chad Troutwine; unfortunately, while the guys are obviously having a good time recording it, there are large gaps in between the conversation, and a chunk of it is simply them describing what's happening on the screen.
The Director's Commentaries are much more informative, with the directors discussing their respective segments in the film.
Additional Interviews with Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner are essentially made up of 14 clips that were cut from the film. They run almost 38 minutes in length, and cover a wide variety of topics, including their description of Freakonomics and how they pick the topics found in the books.
HDNet: A Look At Freakonomics is a clip from the Tribeca Film Festival that contains comments in the form of interviews from the Directors involved. It runs about 5 minutes.
Freakonomics Books is basically ad print copy for the books, and 4 trailers for other Magnolia releases rounds out the supplements for this disc.
The Final Word:
Meh. If you're a fan of the books and are interested in seeing how it translates to film, this may be the DVD for you. As a viewer with a casual interest in the film, I found myself bored and looking at the clock more often than not. Regardless, a solid presentation with some good extras for those who enjoyed it.
